Sadly, there are many people today who reject Christianity because of the hypocrisy and inconsistencies of the church and individual Christians throughout history. They point to some of the ugly parts of the church’s past like the Crusades, the witch trials, and the Inquisition. The Spanish conquistadores perpetuated unspeakable cruelties against people they considered savages, in the name of Christ. People who were supposed to be Bible believing Christians owned slaves and mistreated them in our country. Let me say from the beginning that these atrocities are indefensible acts. The complaints are legitimate.
But it is not only past history that people point to, but current situations as well, such as the violence in Ireland where Catholics who say they are Christians are killing Protestants who say they are Christians and vice versa. In my lifetime, southern white Christians beat and killed black Christians during the struggle for racial equality. Even here in Mount Vernon there was a chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, and they even marched in parades here not very long ago. Klan members were often church members and used Christian rhetoric and quoted Bible verses to foster hatred, as many of the militia and white supremacist groups are still doing today. We have had people claiming to be Bible believing, pro-life Christians killing abortion doctors.
The questions we have to ask are: Is this kind of hate and violence the norm, or is it an anomaly in Christian history? Is it the rule, or is it the exception? Were the actions of these people consistent with Christian teaching or an aberration of it? We want to face these questions squarely as we look at the violence in Christian history, and the violence perpetrated in the name of Christ going on today.
First, let’s ask: Why was there violence in Christian history? What about the crusades and witch trials? What was happening here? Was this part of parcel of the Christian faith, or misguided individuals who happened to be Christians — or at least claimed to be? Ken Shei, an atheist, remarked, “Christianity has (by certain people) been used throughout history as an excuse for some of the most brutal, heartless, and senseless atrocities known to man.” Shei has gone so far as to form an organization called “Atheists for Jesus,” which promotes Jesus’ “message of love and kindness” without accepting him as God or seeing the church as an institution which follows his teachings. He loves the ethics of Jesus and is turned off by what he sees in the life of his followers. His objections to Christianity are things like the Crusades where Christians, from the 11th to the 13th centuries, encouraged by the Pope, slaughtered thousands of people in an attempt to take back control of the Holy Land from the Muslims. Then there was the Spanish Inquisition which endeavored to deal with heresy within the church through church trials which often ended in torture or death. The witch trials in the early history of our own country, where people were often burned at the stake or hung, was a dark time in the history of the church.
How do we respond to these events, which now we look back upon in shame? First of all, we freely admit the truth of what happened and say that what happened was wrong. And, secondly, we say that what some people did in the name of Christ, they did in the wrong way. Their actions were not in concert with Christian teaching, but the antithesis of it. The best of them were misguided and the worst of them loved cruelty.
There is a lesson here for all of us in the way we treat other people, whether it is the store clerk, the waitress or our family. I have known some mighty mean Christians in my day — sometimes I have been one of them. When it comes to taking a stand on important issues, we may have a good cause, but in carrying out that cause we may employ methods which go against the very core of what Jesus taught. Our cause maybe just, and we may be sincere, but our methods may be unchristian.
This leads to the second point. Let’s ask: Why is there violence in present day Christianity? Why would a true Christian shoot a doctor who performs abortions? What about what is going on in Ireland where Catholics and Protestants are killing each other? What about the violence and abuse perpetrated by priests and clergy against young innocents? How can we possibly respond to these kinds of injustices?
Again, we face these things with honesty and admit their appalling evil. These actions are not in keeping with the Christian faith — they go against its very fiber. The Christian who shoots an abortion doctor may say to himself that he is actually saving lives — by killing one person, he is saving the lives of many more. But in the very act of killing he is going against the very moral law he is desiring to uphold. It is a distortion and an aberration of Christian principles. It is admirable to be against the killing of innocents who have yet to have the chance to live outside the womb, but killing a person is an act which says that you really do not believe in the right to life of all individuals. It is against the teachings of Christ, the tenets of Scripture and the will of God.
The same can be said for those who are supposed to be priests or ministers who act out violence against children for whom they are supposed to care. Obviously, these people go against the specific teaching of Jesus who said, “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea” (Matthew 18:6). The actions of these sick individuals often causes severe spiritual dysfunction in the lives of their victims. The spiritual toll in ruined lives is incalculable and will be judged most severely by God.
The current conflict in Ireland is also the cause of pain to the heart of God. Two groups of people divided along the line of their particular religious beliefs acting with violence against each other. Once more, these atrocities go against the very core and fibre of what Christianity teaches. Jesus said, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also” (Luke 6:27-29).
One of the things that persuades me of the authenticity of the Christian faith is the fact that we can face our sin, admit it and seek forgiveness. This is the heart of Christianity. The church has often repented and formally apologized for its sins in the past. Today in Ireland there are groups of Christians who are seeking to bring reconciliation between Protestants and Catholics — sometimes endangering their lives in order to do so. As we know, the conflict there is more about politics and power than it is religion, but at this point they are so intermingled as to be inseparable. Jim Armour, the pastor from England who spoke here, was telling Sue and I about the efforts of Christians in Ireland to bring both sides together for prayer and worship, and how powerfully God is using that effort in people’s lives.
What we experience in these situations is that we have very imperfect people who believe things they do not always live up to. Sometimes there is a large gap between beliefs and behavior. Whenever we are dealing with people or institutions, we have imperfect individuals and organizations who sometimes justify their behavior in spite of what they profess to believe and promote. It is always good to keep the actions of those who are supposed to be God’s people separate from God himself. Just because someone is a poor example of what the Bible teaches does not negate the truths of the Bible which they fail to live up to.
Third, we need to ask: What can be done about all this today? This is an important question, because we do not want to repeat history. We don’t want to leave obstacles for the people of future generations which they will stumble over. We don’t want there to be large gaps between what we profess to believe and be, and the reality of what we do. We want to follow the One who said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:9). We want to be sons and daughters of God. Someone has said, “When everyone repays an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, it will not be long until we are all blind and toothless.”
I was thinking of the passage in Ephesians 6 recently, where Paul said, “Put on the full armor of God.” He goes on to talk about putting on the helmet of salvation, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. You can just see this person standing there with all this military equipment. He looks like an awesome warrior, but then Paul adds something that seems out of place. He says that the spiritual warrior’s feet should be fitted with the gospel of peace. As I thought about the armor of this spiritual soldier, it struck me how strange it was that a warrior’s feet would be guided by peace. Isn’t the idea of a warrior to be involved in making war? But the Christian soldier is to wage peace, not war. He is fighting a spiritual battle, but he is trusting God to win the war. His armor consists of faith, the Scriptures, salvation and truth guided by peace.
It would be great if everyone in the past and present lived up to the teachings of Jesus. Unfortunately that has not happened. But what we can say is, look at the whole of what Christianity has meant in the world. Compare the relatively few instances of violence, historically speaking, which have been done by misguided Christians, and often non-Christians in the name of Christ, to the overwhelming contribution Christianity has made in the world. Think about the universities, the hospitals, the homeless shelters, orphanages, rehabilitation programs and relief organizations that Christians have begun throughout the world. Think about organizations like the Red Cross and YMCA that were begun by Christians who believed that they were called to serve people in the name of Christ. Think of mission organizations throughout the world who are responsible for saving millions of lives through their love for people.
D. James Kennedy has written, “Christianity has been a boon to mankind. . . (and) has had a beneficent effect upon the human race. . . . Most people today who live in an ostensibly Christian environment with Christian ethics do not realize how much we owe Jesus of Nazareth. . . . What goodness and mercy there is in the world has come in large measure from him.”
If you want to put the violence in Christian history in perspective, compare it to what atheism has done in the world. In the Salem witch trials a total of 20 people lost their lives. But it was a Christian leader, the Puritan Increase Mather, who brought the madness to an end. That is not to diminish the loss of twenty lives, but compare it to over one hundred million who lost their lives through the unspeakable cruelties by the promoters of atheism with names like Lenin, Stalin, Mao Tse-tung, Pol Pot, Slobodan Milosevic, Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Fidel Castro, Chiang Kai-shek and many others. Remember the awful experiments and gruesome means of death that Hitler used to kill millions of people through prejudice and hate. Misguided people who claim to be Christians may be capable of violence, but contrary to Ken Shei’s statement, it is people without God who have performed the most brutal and senseless atrocities known in human history.
The church has had its flaws, and for those things we repent, but we also realize what the world would be like without the influence of the Christian faith. Christians doctors have given up lucrative practices in the States in order to go to serve in third world countries. Missionaries who could have had successful careers at home have given that up in order to bring hope in areas of the world where there is very little hope. It is Christians who are paving the way of peace.
You may be aware of the astounding trials that took place in South Africa after Nelson Mandella took power. After his release as apolitical prisoner, he led a peaceful takeover of the government from those who had been their oppressors, and he set up the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Led by Archbishop Desmond Tutu of Cape Town, the trials sought to reconcile the perpetrators of violent crimes and their victims. Archbishop Tutu believed that “we can indeed transcend the conflicts of the past; we can hold hands as we realize our common humanity.” Stanley W. Green relates one story which he told in the Canadian Mennonite: “In an emotionally charged courtroom, a South African woman stood listening to white police officers acknowledge their atrocities. Officer van de Broek acknowledged that along with others, he had shot her 18-year-old son at point-blank range. He and the others partied while they burned the son’s body, turning it over and over on the fire until it was reduced to ashes. Eight years later, van de Broek and others returned to seize her husband. She was forced to watch her husband, bound on a woodpile, as they poured gasoline over his body and ignited the flames that consumed his body. The last words she heard her husband say were ‘forgive them.’ Now, van de Broek awaited judgment. South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission asked the woman what she wanted. ‘I want three things,’ she said calmly. ‘I want Mr. van de Broek to take me to the place where they burned my husband’s body. I would like to gather up the dust and give him a decent burial. Second, Mr. van de Broek took all my family away from me, and I still have a lot of love to give. Twice a month, I would like for him to come to the ghetto and spend a day with me so I can be a mother to him. Third, I would like Mr. van de Broek to know that he is forgiven by God, and that I forgive him, too. I would like to embrace him so he can know my forgiveness is real.’ As the elderly woman was led across the courtroom, van de Broek fainted, overwhelmed. Someone began singing ‘Amazing Grace.’ Gradually everyone joined in.”
That is the Spirit of Christ operating in the real world. That is how the war against evil is won. These are our spiritual weapons.
Rodney J. Buchanan
June 9, 2002
Mulberry St. UMC
Mt. Vernon, OH
www.MulberryUMC.org
Rod.Buchanan@MulberryUMC.org
